Befriending the Murderer

Life, Relationship change

Due to an influx of arrests linked to friction between infected and non-infected in Dallas, Zero is placed in a cell with an admitted murderer (Georgia) awaiting sentencing. The two become fast friends.

Well before her arrest, Zero got swept up in a murder mystery. She quickly found herself with great sympathy for the main suspect, Georgia, in part due to their similar employment history and partially because extroverts sometimes adopt introverts.   Because Zero and Georgia were drinking from the same cup while in jail, Georgia became infected with the Z-virus and the T-virus. However, Zero caught something as well. Feelings.   Zero has had a stint in prison before, which ended with her spending several days in solidarity confinement and having a mental breakdown. It is for this reason she is scared of enclosed spaces without an obvious unblocked exit, and why she mentally declined while she was in jail. Georgia largely slowed that decline, allowing Zero to remain, at the very least, functional. Zero is convinced she would have died from suicide if it weren't for Georgia not only talking to her but also befriending her. For that reason Zero develops a bit of a fixation on her cellmate and makes the incredibly rare decision that she would die for Georgia should it come down to it, something that Zero would not do even for her romantic partners.   Unfortunately, Zero suffers from internalized homophobia due to spiritual uncertainty about the morality of her sexual orientation. This homophobia is extremely well-hidden to the point that essentially no one knows about it, however, it tends to get magnified when she develops a crush on somebody who does not appear to reciprocate, such as Georgia, as she fears that merely having an awkward best friends crush (even if she doesn't act on it) is somehow predatory. It is partially for this reason that Zero responds bizarrely when eventually faced with an angel.   But before we get to Lux, we've more character development to cover!   As described in her journal, this is the first time Zero has felt true, deep camaraderie to a non-infected. (Although Georgia did get the Z-virus, the turning point didn't hit until later, meaning Zero was interacting with her without the usual pheromones influencing them to see each other positively.) Of course, what Zero describes as her "borderline obsessive problem-solving part of me" latching onto her cellmate mixes with aforementioned internalized homophobia into an uncomfortable dark mush, the subpar mashed potatoes of human emotion.   Basically, what I'm getting at is Zero was unnecessarily terrified of alienating Georgia.   Solo and thread here.